Apple is often cited as being the best company in the world. Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn’t, but what’s clear from our recent We Ask You discussion is that a) everyone has an opinion and b) everyone sees this in black and white, with no gray, in-between, sitting on the fence views being expressed.

Black Or White, No Gray

We asked you, Is Apple The Best Company In The World? There was a good, though not extraordinary, number of responses to this question. There were certainly more than enough responses to allow us to build a picture of what you, the MakeUseOf readership, thinks about Apple.

Interestingly, only a handful of people mentioned other companies, with most remaining blinkered to the wider question and instead focusing on the prime query. You could have taken the opportunity to wax lyrical about Microsoft, Google, Samsung, or Lenovo, explaining why they, rather than Apple, are the best company in the world. But you didn’t.

This perfectly demonstrates why Apple news often dominates the technology headlines. Even if you’re not into Apple in a significant way, you’re still interested in knowing what the company is doing. No other technology company can boast that level of interest, intrigue, and examination.

The big takeaway from the discussion is, as the headline suggests, the complete lack of any sitting on the fence when it comes to Apple. People either love or hate Apple, and are more than willing to explain why they feel the way they feel about the Cupertino-based iCompany.

People have either bought into the ecosystem and are delighted to remain within it, or they have rejected it for whatever reason and aren’t ever likely to reconsider. Apple appears to be the only company, tech or otherwise, which has this effect on consumers.

Apple is the Calvin Klein of electronics. A once respected design house turned into a marketing machine offering reasonable, but not great, products at unreasonable prices to people who value the brand’s waning cachet.

We Ask You is a weekly column in which you have your say about a particular subject. We ask you a question each week, with the results compiled and compressed into a follow-up article the following week. This column is nothing without your input, all of which is valued.

I work in consumer electronics so I hate Apple. It's such a pleasure to have Apple users yell at you because the product they bought "Doesn't work". Of course the fact is the product always works perfectly, but these Apple lovers are not capable of simple tasks like deleting a file, or connecting a usb cable to a usb port. I have never once had a PC user ask me how to do those things, much less accuse me of tricking them because they needed to have such a "vast knowledge" of computers... like anything beyond pressing the power button!
Bottom line is, PC users always ask, "What am I doing wrong?" Mac users always declare, "This thing doesn't work!"

Have you ever heard of "PEBCAK" Probelm Exists Between Chair And Keyboard? More often than not, that is the case. Those that buy Apple products figure that for the price they are paying, the device should work every time, all the time. At least that is what Fruitco propaganda has them believing.

It shows you are an Apple hater. I don't hate Apple neither Windows.
The fact is, that Windows had given me headaches for too long, so five years ago I switched to Apple. During the last five years Apple gave me less headaches than Windows gave me in three months.
Figure out yourselves which operating system is better . . . anybody with an open mind could do that. Could you?

"It shows you are an Apple hater."
It shows nothing of the kind. Yours is a biased and narrow-minded statement. Just because I do not share your opinions, I am a "hater"?

I dislike Apple, Inc, I do not "hate" it. They are as much an Evil Empire as M$. I think Fruitco products are more expensive than they need to be and as I have repeatedly stated, their hardware is very esthetically pleasing. I don't care whether you like OS/X or Windows, we all have our prejudices.

"Figure out yourselves which operating system is better . . . anybody with an open mind could do that."
Yep, the answer is, Linux. :P

The "Comment of the Week" is wrong. This is not my opinion. It is a fact.
I don't dispute the fact that Calvin Klein products have unreasonable prices. But many other designer clothing are even more expensive. You can find similar, non big name quality clothing at reasonable prices. This works for clothing, but not for cars, electronics and computers.

You cannot compare a small car with a luxury one. You will have to compare two cars having similar quality components and with similar extras to determine which of the two is more expensive.

The same applies to computers.
The Apple product prices are not unreasonable, especially those of computers.
The fact is, that "building" a Dell desktop computer or laptop on Del's website having the same quality components as an Apple desktop or laptop will carry the same price as an Apple computer (plus or minus 5%). I've done this comparison a few years ago when I switched to Apple from Dell (the "culprit" for switching was Windows Vista).
Another fact: MAC OSX operating system is cheaper than Windows. This is true especially when upgrading. MAC OSX 10.9 was free. Windows . . . hardly. It cannot get any cheaper than that.
Where are the unreasonable prices?

Additional fact: the quality of MAC OSX is net superior to the quality of any Windows operating system. Anybody except hardcore Windows enthusiasts will agree with that.
If MAC OSX is reasonable, than Windows is total garbage.
My opinion (finally, not only a fact) is that MAC OSX is a great product, the latest Windows is reasonable.

Next time please choose a more appropriate comment for the "Comment of the Week".

I think you missed the point of the Comment of the Week. I think it describes Apple to a T, a company that charges a premium for just average products but tries to make everyone think those products are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I am not going to debate the merits and demerits of various O/Ss because each O/S's users think that their is the best. Let me just remind you that OS/X is nothing more than a gussied-up BSD. It isn't any better but it does have more glitz and glitter.

Fruitco hardware is esthetically pleasing but performance-wise, it is no great shakes. For the price they want for each of their computers, I can built two. They will not look as pretty but they will perform as well, if not better.

Apple does turn out beautiful looking hardware. The design has come a long, long way from the beige boxes that were Apple II/II, Lisa and the original Macintosh. Today's Apple hardware looks like works of art. By comparison, all other companies' hardware looks clunky and primitive. I can't speak about Apple software since the last Fruitco O/S I used was ProDOS.

Having said the above, Apple is, and always has been, as rapacious, as ruthless, as much of an Evil Empire as Microsoft.